Hoarding board is essentially large panels of solid fencing which surround construction works and sites, effectively providing a barrier between us on the outside and the works on the inside.
Hoardings are actually a big visual part of our everyday lives, whether we realise it or not. At some point in our ventures outside, we’ve all come across a hoarding board. Whether it’s for a new residential development, a refurbishment of a retail store or surrounding a new city high-rise.
Hoardings are actually a key health and safety aspect of a construction site. As well as hiding the unsightly works on a site, hoardings provide a shield to stop the public accidentally wandering onto a construction site or development. Plus, they help to stop debris escaping, and offer some relief from the construction noise.
Hoarding boards do have another significant benefit, however, offering a perfect canvas for advertising and promotions in an area with high footfall and high visibility.
What are hoarding boards used for? Let’s look in more detail…
The main reason for a construction hoarding is health, safety and security. Construction sites are busy, hazardous places which are protected by a number of rules and regulations to keep workers and the general public safe. So really, the main job of a hoarding is to act as a barrier, stopping people getting in who shouldn’t be and acting as a controlled access point for contractors.
Hoardings also have another health and safety aspect though, which is to communicate messaging in this area. These big, highly visual areas are great for highlighting key safety messages, offering warnings about potential hazards, and addressing essential compliance regulations.
Hoardings are often used to promote what the site is directly related to, such as new residential builds, retail store fitouts or fancy new office buildings. However, sometimes hoardings are often sold as prime advertising space and used for unrelated brands.
hoarding board is a highly effective advertising tool, as they are invariably so impressive in size and often in high-footfall areas. Compared with other advertising mediums, they can also be more memorable and cost effective. Digital graphics are often fleeting and only catch the eye of passers-by for a few seconds. And large billboards can often be expensive and difficult to negotiate. But hoardings will grab the full attention of those passing and offer a lasting impression — think hoardings that are promoting new residential builds that are selling a lifestyle, which you look at and think ‘I could live like that’.
Hoardings are such an effective advertising mechanism, they certainly should not be overlooked.
People are naturally curious and the barrier created by a hoarding board is a great way to generate some intrigue as to what lies behind. A ‘coming soon’ message or a countdown to a big reveal can tap into our love of drama and excitement.
The bold and in-your-face nature of site hoardings make them perfect for offering directions and navigational messaging. This could be directly related to the site, such as pointing out marketing suites or sales rooms, or to make sure visitors are taking the safe route onto the site. They can also highlight diversions if the construction site is blocking a pathway.
As advertising mediums, hoardings can also direct passers-by to local businesses, letting them know the route and proximity — a nudge that your business is just a few minutes’ walk away could be all it takes to inspire a potential customer to visit.
When it comes to brand awareness, big is definitely beautiful. The large-scale size of advertising hoardings make for the perfect backdrop to raise brand awareness, with a big bang of visual impact that’s hard to miss. There’s also plenty of opportunity to get creative, too.
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Construction and building sites are never going to be pretty, and hoardings do an excellent job of covering up some of the more unsightly aspects and creating a neat and self-contained area.
The surface of the hoarding is essentially a blank canvas to create any type of desired visual impact. It could be bespoke branding, it could be elevated, high-end messaging, it could be images to reflect the local environment and community, or creative work from a local artist.
Hoardings have a huge visual impact on our lives, even if we didn’t know it. These big, visually impressive areas carry out a whole range of functions, from practicalities like keeping a construction area safe and secure to marketing mechanisms like advertising, sales and branding. They can be very cost effective and hugely impactful.
The possibilities presented by hoardings are pretty much endless… and the opportunities are there for the taking.
Ready to talk about hoardings? Drop us a line on hello@kgkgenix.com or call us on 01920 461244.